IDF Airstrike on Terrorists at Closed Gaza Airstrip

PA terrorists in Gaza fired rockets and mortars at Jewish targets intermittently on Thursday. The IDF followed with an airstrike the same night.

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Nissan Ratzlav-Katz, 09/08/07 23:49

Israeli Air Force missiles

Palestinian Authority terrorists fired rockets and mortars at Jewish targets in the western Negev intermittently throughout Thursday. An IDF airstrike the same night targeted PA terrorists who were using an abandoned air field in southern Gaza.

One of three rockets fired by PA terrorists in Gaza on Thursday night landed near Three armed PA gunmen spotted at the disused Dahaniyeh airport.Kibbutz Nir Am and damaged a cellular network tower. A second rocket apparently landed near Sderot and a third landed near a military base. There were no injuries, but property damage at the IDF base was reported.

A short time later, IDF forces launched an airstrike on three armed PA gunmen spotted at the disused Dahaniyeh airport, located in the Rafiah area of southern Gaza. The IDF reported that the targeted gunmen were hit, but PA sources claimed there were no injuries in the incident.

Also on Thursday night, PA Arabs threw at least one firebomb at an Israeli motorist driving southwest of Shechem, in Samaria. No injuries or damage were reported in the terrorist attack.

Gaza-based terrorists also fired several mortar shells at Israeli towns in the western Negev on Thursday afternoon, but failed to injure anyone or to cause any damage. Enemy attackers also fired on IDF soldiers patrolling the Gaza-area perimeter security fence. One IDF patrol spotted two enemy gunmen planting a bomb along the fence, as well. Troops opened fire at the would-be saboteurs, hitting both of them. There were no reported injuries among IDF forces in any of the incidents.

In a security breach along the Gaza fence on Thursday evening, two unarmed teenage PA residents managed to infiltrate the western Negev. The two broke through the security fence between Netiv HaAsarah and Zikim. IDF soldiers quickly tracked down the youths a short distance from northern Gaza. Several area roads were closed during the brief search.

In what is most likely part of a local clan feud or land dispute, rather than terrorism-related, a bomb was found in the Israeli-Arab village of Kfar Kassem on Thursday night. Leaving avenues of investigation open, police said the reason for the placement of the bomb is unclear at this time. The device was examined and disposed of by police sappers. PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas proposed flooding the Philadelphi Route.

As a means to prevent weapons smuggling from Egypt to Gazan terrorists, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas proposed flooding the Philadelphi Route, between Gaza and Egypt, with seawater. According to the report, Abbas made his proposal in a meeting with Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak.

Mubarak has expressed concern over weapons smuggling to and from Egypt, particularly after the discovery of multiple would-be bombers and large caches of weapons in the Sinai Peninsula earlier in the year. He recently announced plans to raze dozens of houses on the Egyptian side of Rafiah in order to prevent smuggling.